Attachment avoidance predicts inflammatory responses to marital conflict.
Marital stress has been associated with immune dysregulation, including increased production of interleukin-6 (IL-6). Attachment style, one's expectations about the availability and responsiveness of others in intimate relationships, appears to influence physiological stress reactivity and thus could influence inflammatory responses to marital conflict. Thirty-five couples were invited for two 24-h admissions to a hospital research unit. The first visit included a structured social support interaction, while the second visit comprised the discussion of a marital disagreement. A mixed effect within-subject repeated measure model indicated that attachment avoidance significantly influenced IL-6 production during the conflict visit but not during the social support visit. Individuals with higher attachment avoidance had on average an 11% increase in total IL-6 production during the conflict visit as compared to the social support visit, while individuals with lower attachment avoidance had, on average, a 6% decrease in IL-6 production during the conflict visit as compared to the social support visit. Furthermore, greater attachment avoidance was associated with a higher frequency of negative behaviors and a lower frequency of positive behaviors during the marital interaction, providing a mechanism by which attachment avoidance may influence inflammatory responses to marital conflict. In sum, these results suggest that attachment avoidance modulates marital behavior and stress-induced immune dysregulation.
Gouin
Jean-Philippe
JP
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University 43210, USA. gouin.1@osu.edu
Glaser
Ronald
R
Loving
Timothy J
TJ
Malarkey
William B
WB
Stowell
Jeffrey
J
Houts
Carrie
C
Kiecolt-Glaser
Janice K
JK
D000328:Adult; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D009769:Object Attachment; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000276:immunology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D015850:Interleukin-6